Page 133 of You + Me 2: Face To Face

I gaze into his gray eyes, which betray his nerves, at the full lips that are imprinted into my memory, and the little, white scar that runs across one of them. Something clicks. In response, I rise onto my tiptoes, take his gorgeous, troubled face in my hands, and lean in to kiss him. I ignore the clicking of the cameras and the whistles piercing the air. The world knows now.

Vadim + Alma. I am his, and he is mine.

You + Me is no longer a secret.

Alma

January 2. Back at King Productions, I try to ignore the amused, curious glances coming my way. Luckily, most of my coworkers have taken the week off, so I won’t have to explain myself at the coffee machine. For now, at least.

After shaking off a small horde of paparazzi, Vadim and I stepped out onto the Champs-Élysées together without hiding anything. For the first time. Despite my joy and pride at officially being the woman he shares his life with, I have no intention of making a spectacle of myself. On the way to the office, we laid down the ground rules: no PDAs at work and no mention of our private lives in front of our coworkers. In the office, our relationship will remain professional.

But in the elevator, just before the doors open, we’re already breaking our own rules with a kiss that sets me on fire. Once the doors open, I force myself to stop smiling and go about my business, while my incorrigible boss watches me walk away. I can feel his gaze burning into my back.

***

I pull myself together. Time to act normal.

I need to retrieve some urgent documents that Kate forgot to send me before she went on leave. She hasn’t responded to the messages I sent her, and it can’t wait any longer. I head to her office, hoping to find the relevant file saved on her computer. I have no idea how I’m going to get past the authentication process, though. The screen lights up, and I wait as the login page loads. My eyes land on a yellow sticky note stuck to the bottom-left corner of the monitor.

New year, new login details. IT Team

It’s almost too good to be true. I enter her credentials, making a mental note to tell the IT department to change them again now that I know what they are. Kate doesn’t mess around when it comes to confidentiality.

I find the file and email it to myself from her inbox. I realize it’s her personal email account that I’ve just opened up, and an uneasy sensation washes over me. I don’t want to snoop. But my eyes linger on her received messages. Then, my shaking finger clicks on the sent messages. Just out of curiosity.

There’s one name there that stops me dead. Dimitri Monkov.

I swallow hard and open the email.

From: Kat M.

To: Dimitri Monkov

Subject: Nothing to report

Dad,

Nothing new regarding the studios. We’re in the clear. Nothing to worry about.

Love,

Katarina

Shock paralyzes me. I sit there staring at the screen, completely stunned, while my brain struggles to process the information: Kate Monroe’s real name is Katarina Monkov. And worse yet, she calls Vadim’s sworn enemy “Dad.”

Kate is our mole.

Alma

Katarina Monkov hasn’t been ousted from her position as director yet.

Back from vacation this morning, she’s returned to her office and fallen back into her usual routine: shaking things up at King Productions, ruling her troops with an iron fist, and pulling the strings in this little world she’s created.

Well, that’s what she thinks, anyway.